Monthly Archives: March 2013

After an interesting weekend with a few email and website hiccups, things are coming back to normal with soloshootsfirst. Happy to report that all web-related goodies moved over to the new host with just a few complications that weren’t that bad, all things considered.

I looked back at my Plan B post, and I am making a little bit of progress in the “look for new work” category. Taking pictures of myself has to count for photography effort, as well. Yet this week, I’m going to schedule another chat with one of the principals whose likeness is being portrayed in my current writing project. The talk with Clint last fall was helpful, and it was fun just to think back on those days together. I figure I should get at least the same out of Kelly.

Might end up taking a few-more-than-desired days off as I’m going to move this site over to my new hosting service as well. The change should end up being transparent, but will probably take a day or three to complete.

I’m annoyed with myself that I haven’t made any new progress with writing in the last week or so. I have occupied my time with some other projects, but I need to be sure I’m budgeting a little space for everything that I want to accomplish. Making an actual schedule might be a nice idea if I thought I could stick to it. I have to chalk up cutting back significantly on TV and general Internet-dicking-around as minor victories at this point.

In more general news, I’m taking a ride to Milwaukee on Saturday. Prepare thyself for my descent.

Haven’t been spending a lot of time with photo and writing in the last few days, as I transitioned the podcast blog from wordpress.com over to a hosted wordpress installation. I found a great deal on hosting with 1-click WordPress install, unlimited storage and bandwidth, unlimited domains, for $5 a month for three years. If you want to check them out, they are the #1 recommended host on wordpress.org.

So anyway, moving BKORadio.com was a significant task, but I feel like it was a good way to test out the host and see if I would ultimately want to move my personal site there as well. Probably won’t *right* away, but it is coming. Moving this one should actually be easier, as it’s already a self-hosted wordpress site and essentially copying it over it what I would be doing.

I made a “banner” image for BKO Radio using my phone camera, GIMP, and Snapseed. I like the way I was able to push the background out of focus with the various filters used, since the background in my apartment is kind of a mess.

I got a little excited about taking pictures of myself this week. If I’m going to learn how to photograph people, I am probably the most willing model that I have access to for the time being. So, last night, after I finished the Drama Jocks show, I set myself up a little studio around my desk, built a crappy diffuser out of tissue paper and cardboard, and went to work.

I wasn’t nearly as impressed with myself as I had been with the outdoor shots over the weekend. Maybe I just don’t like the way that I look in photos, or I don’t know how to do lighting, or both, but the shots I took last night didn’t turn out that well. I might be able to massage a couple of them into usefulness, but I was hoping to do a little better than that. I guess I’ll just need to keep working at it.

If you were me, and you wanted to take a picture of yourself, ostensibly “at work,” (not necessarily at your job, but doing stuff) where would you do it? Or, what would you try to photograph yourself “doing”?

As part of my quest to challenge and enhance my skills with photography, I decided I would try to take some self-portraits while I was up north last weekend. They turned out… OK. At best. I found that I was much better at taking them outside than I was indoors. Maybe it was the limitations of the “studio” inside Mom and Dad’s house; I had trouble finding a decent backdrop to use, and I really was just lighting those shots by the seat of my pants.

I haven’t registered for that online photo class that I bought just yet, but I’m going to very soon. I really want to improve in this aspect of photography.

I paid my monthly bill to Etsy this morning. It’s never really that much, as I sometimes go weeks or months with nearly no activity at all in my shop. If I want to increase traffic over there, I probably need to add a lot more listings.

We’re often our own worst critic. That is painfully true for me in every creative endeavor that I’ve undertaken. I first got the impetus to open an Etsy shop when a friend at work mentioned the one that her photography instructor had. I took a look and said, “well, I have all kinds of pictures that look better than these…” The thing is, with art, there is no accounting for taste. I should strive not to take and then sell the pictures that *I* necessarily like best, but put forth my best effort to look at my photos objectively, make them look their best in post-processing, and then let others judge.

What have I got to lose? Twenty cents a listing? Hey, if I’ve got four dollars, I’m just going to throw it in the street anyway.